Due to many factors, such as cost, space availabilitY, care provider availability, and the like, many invalids are being cared for in the home. There have even been studies that conclude that a home environment is more conducive to convalescence than a hospital even though a hospital may be better equipped than a home.
However advantageous such home care is, it has several problems which places the home care option at a disadvantage to other options such as hospitalization and nursing home placement. One problem of particular importance is associated with a patient who may be prone to either falling out of bed accidentally or actually deliberately leaving the bed when he is supposed to remain bedridden. Such is the case with a person having a disease such as Alzheimer's disease or Cerebral Palsy and is mentally retarded yet has an adult body. Such an adult patient is prone to leaving his bed and wandering about thereby endangering himself and causing a problem for the person charged with his care. Such a patient should remain in bed when he is not being carefully watched.
While the art has examples of invalid beds having restraints such as straps and the like, such restraints restrict the movement of the patient and may be the cause of sores as well. Furthermore, applying such straps and the like to a patient may be quite difficult, especiallY if the patient does not want to be restrained. Accordingly, such devices are not totally desirable in all cases.
While many hospital beds have some sort of railing such railings are primarily intended to prevent a patient from accidentally falling out of bed, and are not adequate to restrain an adult patient in a bed if that patient is physically capable of getting out of bed.
These railed beds may also be difficult and onerous to change. Still further, the rails on invalid beds such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,454 are intended to move out of the way, as by sliding or the like. While this feature is often helpful, it provides a means whereby the patient may find escape. While movable slats may be suitable for an infant's bed, in which the occupant is not likely to understand how to operate the slat or rail release or is not likely to have the hand dexterity to effect such release, rail or slat elements that are movable with respect to the rest of the bed may not be suitable for an adult patient. Thus, such sliding or movable rails are not suitable for some patients.
Accordingly, there is a need for an invalid bed that has means for physically preventing an adult-sized patient from getting out of that bed, yet does so without the use of difficult-to-use restraints.